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Sten mag house install

4K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  dutigaf 
#1 ·
Damn I wish that the excellent pictorial of the mk.3 build a few threads down in this forum had some detailed pics of the welding, lining up correctly & making sure it feeds right of the mk.3 mag housing along with the pics it has in it.

Anyone got some detailed pics or some detailed instructions, or am I gonna have to go mk.2 style it with a slip over housing pinned in place???

Anyone with some time and experience care to lend a reply on this subject??
 
#2 ·
Insert the Mag well,Mag & bolt into the tube line it all up hold in place & tac in 4 small areas being careful not to weld the mag in then test with a dummy cartridge for feeding & ejecting properly. when your satisfied that it works properly remove the magazine & finish weld.
 
#3 ·
Do as rocco pointed out. Things may creep a bit once you start welding. Check that the ejector stays aligned properly. That's typically where things go wrong.

I wrote up a welding guide when I did my Sten build. I'll have to find where it went.
 
#4 ·
yeah i didnt spend a lot of time on this part when i made the build thread on these...

if you got some lip left on the magwell it will set just fine like Rocco said and you tack it on 3-4 spots.

Rocco is dead on about how it goes, same way the rest of us did it....

not much more to be said there. its really a fun easy build.
 
#5 ·
When you do the final welding of the mag well to the tube do it with short beads and keep moving to different areas, it's easy to warp the tubing if you try to weld a full bead at once.
 
#6 ·
Yep you skipped right over it in that pictorial.

RetVet - I'd sure like to read and see your write-up. Just for those that dont know this, I'd been led in the worng direction when it came to redemilling the kit that was a 98% assembled stenkenstein gun build. It was welded by an idiot that seemed not to care about anything like the LAW.... So I got out my trusty torch and relegalized the parts kit.

Truely the worst sten mk.3 kit I've ever seen. Not only did the master machinist (aka Kit builder Barney) break off the rear reciever housing that holds the rear of the reciever tube in place. He also decided the CAP for Recoil Spring and the cap retainer were too much work . So I had the simplest job of rototzipping the non removable washer at the rear of the plumbing pipe off only to see 3 to 4 coils on the recoil spring were welded to the reciever inside and thus making my spring a tad bit shorter and loosened.

I'm quite the complainer for someone who got this kit (slash) ex-gun for a 1/2 gallon of nitromethane so the poor chap who ended up with it before me could run his remote control cars. Besides the gun was welded so incorrectly at the mag/housing that whenever they thought it was test fireable, it began feeding in such a manner as to disfigure the brass bolts face where the cartridge gets housed, fed, shot, extracted and then finally ejected.

Unfortunatly none of those things happened. The mag was misaligned and due to their carelessness, the cartridge recess and the firing pin were mangled so bad that once I saw the bolt I ordered a steel mk 2 bolt.

Anyways enough typing for now ....someone needs to make a manual like the mk.2 has on prexis but for the mk.3...


thanks ...Lowjackal
 
#7 ·
I'll

I'll be doing my third Sten build in about a month after I finish up 2 of the other gun projects. It's gonna be a MKIII vented Pistol build I will try & take Pics of all the steps from begining to end I will be using another Indianapolis ordnance receiver & semi kit on it. when I'm done I'll post it all.
 
#8 ·
yeah im world famous for getting involved in a build and forgetting to take enough pictures until after i'm finished.

ya just get into the build and lose track of everything else and next thing you know its done and you dont have enough pictures...

the magwell is really that easy to set and its harder to demill the rear than set the magwell.

but im probably not gonna do another "regular sten", ive done 6 and just dont need anymore.

PJM also has a tut on the sten build on this site you may wanna go look at it.
 
#9 ·
Damnit I'm losing my patience with these parts for this mk.3 kit. Now I'm having serious spring snag issues with the spring inside of the reciever.
It's snagging onto the sear whenever the bolt it even partially cycled.

I'll try and get some pics of what I'm sure I'll be told is a ruined recoil spring.
At one end its fine.
Then after 3 coils it gets looser and looser. By the time it's at the middle to the ass-end its 3 or 4 coils shorter than it should be and as loose as the entire inside diameter of the reciever.
Hence its snagging onto the sear.

I'm not rich and I cant afford to get bent over trying to afford a replacement spring. $10 is a reasonable price for a spring that cost a few pennies when it was added to the sten back in the day.
All the compression springs every hardware store , plumbing, auto, machine shop , ect only has a way too thick , way too stiff style spring as their closest compression springs.

My kid has a jumper doo-hickey we put him in , with toys built into it in a circle.
Its got a swivel chair/seat we put him in and 3 spring loaded legs that let him bounce and jump up and down. The springs inside the legs are the exact diameter size spring except for they are a little over half as long as the sten recoil spring needs to be.

So since I wouldnt dare destroy my boys jumper for the springs can someone with an extra or that knows the whereabouts of a reasonably priced replacement spring please reply and let me know.



Thank you so much...
 
#10 ·
bub, ive sold several hundred sten springs on this site and some others.....

if your spring is catching in your sear there are only a few possibilities.

here they are:

1. your not using the right spring. the clearance here is very small. if your using a larger diameter spring than needed its gonna catch.... (ruin)

2. your sear is riding just a hair to high.. not very likely if your using the original holes it can only be at a certain point..

3. your using tooo much spring along with the wrong diameter causing it to bunch up and go down and catch the sear.

take a look at my spring thread and see if your springs look like those... then come back and tell us whats happening.

and the spring price was $5 for a set shipped.

http://www.gunco.net/forums/showthread.php?t=35845
 
#11 ·
anyone have a link to a sten magazine condition pictorial. You know ..Good...OK.....CRAP!!
????
 
#12 ·
uh whats a "condition pictorial"????

im going to set a magwell on a sten later today and will take some pictures for you if you want...

but as we said, you really need to have already cut your bolt slot and the main magwell hole then put in the bolt and work your magwell off of the bolt position.

this will eliminate any alignment problems... no misfeeds this way.

will have pix of me setting and tacking this up later tonite when i get in.

sdk
 
#13 ·
ok its not much, but at this time for what im doing this is all ive got for you..

this is really a simple install, just take your time

after cuting the magwell by the template and installing your bolt, make sure you have a nice smooth bolt path and then close the bolt with the handle in it.

now position your magwell on top of it and center it up:



now go around and tack it (i tack the back dead center first, cause there more material on most demills there)

check your bolt function and make sure there is no draggin on the ejector or binding on the side of the bolt.



now just slowly work your way around the housing tacking on all the corners

use short weld paths to avoid warping. continue testing the bolt until you have it all welded around the housing and then if your not a "pretty" welder you can grind off and make a nice finish on it...

then you adjust your magazine to the well if needed.... sten mags are known world wide for working in certain guns and not others.

ive got 5 semi stens that run perfect and all my mags are fit to each gun and numbered.

hope this helps you.

sdk
 
#15 ·
ok your online and you asked for this........... did you see it?

or did it help you at all?

OMG!!! I'm just now seeing the pictorial you did for me and I cant thank you enough. I do believe that I will go and put these pics to use and set up the welder for another try at it. Thats really cool that you did these pics and replied so helpfully to my beginner-type question.

Most people wouldnt help someone else out like you've done. Karma props to you.

Seeing as all I have is a 110v Flux-core arc welder that isnt the neatest welder for this purpose the pics and steps you outlined may just get me to attach the housing without warping the reciever so viscously as I have twice now. I had the bolt cycling perfect until I tried to do it my way. Which once done just with the 4 corner tacks had warped it so the bolt binded right at the ejector end of the mag house opening.

So again , thank you for your help and what I meant by a magazine condition pictorial was a wrongly worded attempt at asking where on the forum a post I saw showing 3 sten mags. From good to alright, to crappy. the pic had them in that order showing the top end of the 3 mags from left to right.

Anyways Thank you again.
Lowjack:geezer:
 
#16 ·
hey no problem bub!! thats what we do here is help each other.........

lots of guys here help me on build that im learning & im hoping that if you have done some that are new to me you will return the favor.

once you get those tacks down and check that bolt a few times for clearance, it will be a piece of cake for you.

and all i use is a MIG 110volt on gas....
 
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